Hi folks,
In the introduction to Castle Naerytar on page 45 of Hoard of the Dragon Queen, there is a comment about the castle having been previously occupied by "a group of astrologers called the Academy of Stargazers ... [who] vanished mysteriously after a few years."
Did you know that this is a reference to an old Dungeon Magazine adventure entitled "Mistress on the Mere"? It is the fourth part of the very first Dungeon adventure path, the Mere of Dead Men series (which spanned issues 69-73; this one is in issue 72).
As it happens, the academy was a front for a penanggalan, a female vampire-like creature that can detach its head and fly around with a prehensile, spinal cord-like tail as it hunts for fine young things to feast on. Apparently the creature is based on a kind of ghost from South-East Asian mythology.
Pretty creepy, eh?
No doubt a band of brave adventurers had something to do with the stargazers' mysterious disappearance ... 
On the topic of Castle Naerytar, it appears to have undergone some renovations between when the penanggalan and her academy inhabited it and when the Pharblex Spattergoo moved in.
I only just noticed this myself while browsing through old Dungeon magazines, so I just thought I'd share. Who knows - perhaps someone will be able to enhance their HotDQ campaign with this knowledge!
Cheers,
Jonathan
Thank you. Im running HotDQ at episode 4. But that is some cool background I'm going to have to work into telling the story of Castle Naerytar.
sirkaikillah11 wrote:
CCS wrote:
As I read HotDQ, the PCs will not have time to do anything with that knowledge.
Then again, maybe the Council of Waterdeep will "suggest" they pick somewhere (for a "mailing address" not a PO Box), and the old Fortress' name will come up. They can find out the consequences of their approach to solving the immediate problems.
HotDQ's metaplot assumes the PCs will enable the lizardmen to attack the bullywugs and take over the swamp, while the PCs deal with the Cult forces - who otherwise would reinforce the bullywugs.